christmas break at hogwarts
by blackink24
Summary: what 5th year at hogwarts might have been for Harry if Mr. Weasley wouldn't have been bit. PLEASE REVIEW!I NEED FEEDBACK
1. Chapter 1

"Never thought that I would see you around here…" Came a vaguely familiar voice. It seemed very faint and vaguely familiar. Harry looked around to try and find the source of the voice and there was something about it that made his heart jump straight into his Adam's apple making it very uncomfortable to try and breathe at all. Then he saw a beautiful young Asian girl with long silky black hair.

"Cho!...wha…wah…what are you doing here?" He asked stumbling for words all the way. It made his face go as red as the Scarlet on the Gryffindor logo that he wore.

"Just sending a letter. You?"

A part of Harry wanted to say he was doing the same but that might go into an inquiry as to who it might be and with the Weasleys on Holiday halfway across the world and Hermione in the muggle world he couldn't afford to say that it was really Sirius that he was writing to wish him a Happy Christmas.

"I often come here just for the view…" He lied trying to sound smooth, and for all its apparent lameness it was having a good effect.

"I know it's very pretty up here." Cho said hopping up the ladder, showing a fine amount of agility that made her the Quiddich legend that many knew her as.

"I know you are…" Harry said mesmerized as she walked foreword into the light, casting an elegant shadow across her face making her seem even more beautiful than she had only seconds ago in the middle of the Owlry.

"Nice one Potter…" She said with a smile giving him a playful punch to the shoulder. It made Harry feel uneasy, "God and Rodger Davis said that you were a heartless bastard on a broom. The kid they will someday be a part of the studies here has a crush on me…" She said smirking in a way that made Harry's face, "I'm flattered…"

Harry wanted nothing more than to stare directly out the window, than to just run away but somehow he was inexplicably stuck in his present location….

"Well….I can't really deny it… you remember how I first met you…" He said meekly trying to change the subject.

"Fourth year, well your third year." She interjected, "As I recall you were playing a gentleman's game of Quiddich, and Wood said something about knocking me out of the air if I didn't stop cutting you off. Sounds about right, doesn't it?"

"Yeah…well that's Wood for you…as he will vouch, I never really was the greatest at obeying orders. He would have run you over too, so be glad that it was me playing against you…"

"I heard that he got taken on by Pride of Portree last year."

"Puddlemeare United to be correct." Harry said. If there was one thing that Harry could be counted on to be correct on it was quiddich records.

"Puddlemeare United…typical, they finished in the middle of the league last year, right behind the Cannons if I recall. They still beat the Tornados."

Harry started laughing, "Don't tell me you are a Tornadoes supporter. They were almost at the bottom of the league last year…"

"Been one since I was six years old. My father once played for them. He was a chaser. Kai Chang, or as the Americans say _ca-ching_. Apparently it's supposed to be the sound of a register opens, but believe me I cou;dn't tell you why it was that they say it. Something to do with money…any way ever since then I really couldn't think of any other team."

"Interesting…I guessed that you had a lot more experience flying than most people. Never would have thought it was true though."

As they continued talking Harry found it easier and easier to talk with Cho, especially on topics such as quiddich. After a while it was like he was debating these same ideas with any of the Weasley's. Even as he noticed it he couldn't help but laugh now at all the times he was inable to act.

"So back to my original question what are you doing here? At Hogwarts I mean. I thought you always went home for the holidays." Harry asked.

"Normally I do but my parents wanted Christmas to be held at my grandmothers in China and I really didn't want to go there so I decided to stay here. How bout you?"

"Always here for the holidays. Ever since my first year. Usually Ron is here and Hermione has been here on most of the years too, it's just that they decided that this year they weren't going to stay. Ron's brother is visiting someplace in Africa that he wanted to show all of them, and Hermione's parents just adopted a little boy so she wanted to see that. There's nothing for me at the Dursley's so I won't be going there. Hogwarts has always been more of a home to me than theirs is…but that's just me."

"Sad…are they…" Cho began mildly holding off so as to produce a response without actually stating the question she found so horrid.

"Yeah Horrible is a mildly accurate term. I don't know if I would go as far as torture but maybe while I was growing up… but anyway I really don't like talking about them. They hate Magic and all…"

"That's horrible…"

Harry hadn't even begun to get started. Hating magic was one thing but there was something that was on the basis for every decision that the Dursleys made regarding Harry. He didn't want to know what would happen if he would have said that he was locked under the staircase and not fed for weekends. That might have driven her over the edge. There was something that was getting to Harry as he was sitting there smiling at her.

_Cho was talking to him, and she actually liked him…._

"So explain to me where exactly are we going?" Cho asked holding Harry's hand as they reached the sixth floor.

"Hogsmade…" Harry said trying to sound normal leading her towards the statue of the one eye'd witch that stood halfway down the corridor.

"But this isn't a hogsmade weekend. How are we getting there? Filtch won't let us out."

"Missures Moony Wormtail Padfoot and Prongs. The three most ledgendary men in escaping this School."

"How do you know that they were men? Maybe they were women?" Cho said.

Harry started laughing, the irony of the situation was something that he so desperately wanted to say that these were all people that he knew. But he knew that if he said anything that Cho might ask questions and that he wasn't sure he wanted to answer. Suddenly it looked as though he might not have a choice.

"What's so funny?"

"The people that wrote the map that I found this on. One of them was my dad." Harry said with a note of finality.

"And the others? I mean if this was written by anyone like the Weasly Twins then I doubt that this is safe."

"Well one of the others was Professor Lupin. The other two well one was killed right after I was born and the other has been missing since then too." Harry said vaguely.

He opened the small slide, "Ladies First." He said gesturing down the slide. He then followed her down the slide. He hit the bottom with a thud.

"So where are we going then?"

"We actually come out right under Honeydukes."


	2. Chapter 2

THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE BEEN READING THIS STORY!

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PLEASE REVIEW AND THANK YOU ONCE AGAIN

"You mind telling me how exactly it is that we are getting out of here unseen, as even if this somehow gets inside Honeydukes, they will just ignore the fact that they suddenly have customers."

"That's why I brought this?" Harry said taking out his father's cloak that he had been wearing in his back pocket. Cho blushed a bright shade of crimson. Harry threw it on.

"I was wondering if that might be the case. I remember you telling the DA that you had one, but that we should practice disillusionment spells. I have to admit I was wondering why it was that I couldn't see anything beyond your back pocket…"

"You would be looking…now if I was the one _looking _I don't think that most of my teeth would still be in my mouth." Harry said jokingly.

"Pink is the answer that you're looking for, and you would be fairly accurate in that assessment. So don't get any ideas alright?" She said with a grin on her face and Harry felt a sudden rush of warmth all over his body. Truth be told he hadn't even thought of that…

They walked up the stone steps towards the cellar and they slowly opened the trap door. Harry was doing his best to keep as absolutely quiet as possible. Harry threw the cloak over the two of them as he walked them towards the small staircase leading to the main part of the store.

"How in the hell are we getting out of here?" Cho asked in a whisper as they saw that the place was crowded with holiday shoppers.

"Follow me. We'll get outside." Harry said quietly as they moved through the shop carefully trying not to bump into anyone.

It seemed so much easier with Ron and Hermione, Harry concluded as partway through the store and Cho paused to look at a particular display and Harry walked right into her.

"Ouch…That was my foot…" she said through gritted teeth.

"Sorry. Perhaps it was a good thing that you didn't end up taking me to the Yule ball…" Harry said jokingly and then nearly immediately he wished he could have taken it back.

"Nah, to tell the truth, there is a large part of me that wants so badly to steal a time tuner and go back and make sure that you and I went together. But let's get out of here."

The walk to the door might have been done on the tips of egg shells and as Harry got outside he could taste the freedom. There was nothing compared to it, in Harry's opinion. And he rounded the store and they took off the cloak and Harry had almost wished that he would have kept it on.

Standing in the bushes was a giant black scruffy dog scrapping through the garbage can. It looked like it had been doing it for a long time as well, and Harry's heart skipped a beat. But that was next to nothing when suddenly like a tree growing on fast forward all of a sudden Sirius Black was standing before him.

"Harry!" Sirius said happily, but the joy was muddled out by a small scream from Cho who was now holding a wand.

"Put it down Cho!" Harry yelled, hoping that no one would hear it and come after him.

She sent a stunning spell at Sirius who easily deflected it, Harry partially tackled her saying frantically, "No Cho, No….He's my Godfather, please be quiet, we're safe here Cho."

"What the hell is going on here Harry? Do you know who this is? That's-!"

"Sirius Black, my Godfather, and Dumbledoore's appointed member of the Order of the Pheonix. Yes, Cho! He's on our side."

"_Our side? He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's right hand man on our side? _Are you out of your mind? We should be calling the Aurors!"

"You're welcome to do so. I had half of them to dinner last night at my home in Solsburry last night. We're actually trying to recruit your father right now miss Chang. So please drop whatever notions you have that Voldermort and I are best mates. To tell you the truth James Potter, that would be Harry's dad, was my best friend."

"This is madness…Cho muttered."

"What in the world are you doing down here, Sirius?" Harry asked as soon as they were outside the view of everyone else.

"I'm here on special assignment for the Holidays since you weren't able to get out of the castle and we aren't sure what's going on with Kreacher so we have Dung checking out that one. It's interesting that they believe that there's some sort of a breach but I have sworn him from telling anyone of anything that we do. Anyway I'm going to be here over break according to Dumbledore."

"Any idea what on?"

"No clue. Listen Harry. I'm going back to the mountains to get back to where I used to hide. If you need me, Hedwig will be able to find me. I'll see you later tonight…" He said and swiftly he apperated away.

"So that is seriously your Godfather… and I thought that I had heard it all…" Cho said shaking her head in disbelief, "Didn't they have a bunch of dementors out here two years ago looking for him and now Dumbledore is inviting him into Hogwarts…"

"I tell you what, let's get a drink. I'm getting cold and I would much rather talk in three broomsticks." Harry said.

As they walked towards three broomsticks they marveled in the light snow and sang Christmas Carols in the middle of the street. It was one of the most happy times that Harry could remember in hogsmade. Running around in the snow, full of the Christmas Spirit, he first realized that this is what his life was meant to be….enjoyment…fantasy…life…love…

He was about to open the door to the three broomsticks when he saw Rita Skeeter in the window. Harry's heart jumped worse than when he had tried to ask Cho to the Yule ball. He immediately ducked and grabbed her hand pulling her down the street.

"OK so we can't go in there, where else do we go? I mean I don't think Zonkos is open or anything else."

"Hog's Head!" Harry exclaimed thinking of the place for the first time, "It's bound to be open but there's no way that anyone goes in there."

They walked into the dimly lit bar and Harry had the sudden urge to wash every part of his body. But Cho didn't seem to be bothered and if she wasn't bothered neither would he, he vowed.

He bought them a pair of butterbeers and sat down in a corner. He then explained all that he had learned about in his third year. Cho seemed intrigued that his father and his friends could learn to be Anamagi exclaiming, "But that's so dangerous. You realize that they could have been killed." At the end she was amazed but then right on cue, the bartender walked over.

"My useless brother did actually know that was going on, young Mr. Potter."

Completely taken aback Harry almost spat out his butterbeer, "Hold on you're telling me that you're Dumbledore's brother."

"Didn't see the family resemblance Harry?" Came the voice from the corner. Sitting there in the corner was Albus Dumbledore himself an odd twinkle in his eye, "Aberforth here is my brother. And yes, he does hate me for reasons that I would rather be kept private." He said slightly stressing the "private" part.

"Professor, what are you doing here?"

"One might ask the same of you Harry, miss Chang."

"I…wanted to see outside the castle…"

"I know…as I believe I have told you before I don't need a cloak to become invisible. Now if you would please return to the castle. I will also need you to come to my office tonight Harry. Don't worry you aren't in trouble." He said with a note of finality.

Harry couldn't help but think that there was something wrong that was happening. He had only written Sirius to see if there was any meaning behind his scar twitching badly and these visions he was having of a long dark hallway. He neglected to tell Cho any of this of course. That might have been too much for her to handle on one day…


	3. Chapter 3

Thank you all so much for the reviews that I have recieved, and I add amazement and wonder at the fact that there are over 400 hits from 31 different countries, and to all of you I send my sincerest gratttitude. Enjoy,

~blackink24~

Harry climbed the winding circular staircase to Dumbledore's office late that night feeling a slight anxiety over what it was that would come. If that wasn't all there was the slight nag of what he had heard in The Hogs' head. Could he Harry be over-romanticizing the extent to which he knew Dumbledore. For heaven's sake they hadn't even so much as made eye contact since Harry's trial. A small amount of resentment was building up inside Harry's chest.

"Good evening Harry." Came Dumbledore's voice from behind the desk standing with his half moon specticles almost the full length down his crooked nose.

"Good evening sir, if I might ask, why is it that you knew that I was in the Hogs head?" Harry asked, the thought of which had been troubling him all day.

"The map." Sirius said, emerging from the corner holding a book that looked older than Hogwarts in his hand, "Did you really think that it was the only one? That one was confiscated in our fifth year. Lupin gave it to you, but there was one more that James and I made that we ended up giving to Dumbledore midway through the war. This was back when there were rumors that Voldemort was going to try and find a way to take over Slytherin via a secret passage. James offered it up right away. It has been in Dumbledore's hands ever since. But our time is limited."

"What's going on here Sirius?" Harry asked confused as ever as to what was going on.

But it was Dumbledore that answered, "Your dreams Harry. They are proof that the Dark Lord is getting stronger. In your sleep you are penetrating inside of his head and you are getting access to his thoughts and emotions. We do not have evidence at this time that these dreams pose any threat but we are going to start with a precautionary measure. We are going to teach you Occlumency."

"What in the world is that?" Harry asked.

"The defense of the mind against external penetration. I happen to be very good at it. Professor Dumbledore on the other hand is very good at Legitimacy. We are going to teach you to defend your mind from Voldemort."

"Voldemort is trying to break into my mind?"

"Not as of now, at least according to our intelligence. By all means I don't think that he has even realized that you are peering into his mind. But should he become aware of that connection then by all means he will try to exploit this information to bring about your downfall. Now put the worries aside, and let us begin."

He rose from his desk and took out his wand, "Now for the normal Witch or Wizard the key to Legitimacy is usually eye contact. For myself, I do not need this but I will try to simulate Lord Voldemort's power by keeping eye contact. Now you know that this is a weakness for me, however it is not a weakness for him as in your particular case he does not need to see you." He said.

"Now, I remember you telling me all about your power in resisting the Impirus Curse. You will need this same power but instead of there being a voice you will try to control the images that will be rushing through your head. It takes discipline and in many cases, a complete detachment from emotion. Do you understand?"

"I think so. I'll have to try." Harry said turning to face Dumbledore. He then felt the sudden attack of his brain as thousands of images went rushing through his head. It was like watching a slide show on fast forward.

Then all of a sudden there was a major swing in the speed and he was watching the snake at the zoo tell him that he had always wanted to see Brazil…another shift and there was Hagrid saying goodbye to Norbert…another shift and he was going to ask Cho to the Yule ball.

_Hold on one minute…_ came the voice in Harry's head _that's private…_

He tried blurring the image as best as he could and suddenly he was on the floor panting back in Dumbledore's office.

"Good Job Harry…that was well done for someone who has never had to do this in their life." He said helping Harry into a chair.

"How'd I do…"

"We're I Voldemort you would probably be spilling out your darkest secrets, but the point that I want to make is you were able to recognize the things that were going on inside your mind and you were able to try and stop me from accessing them."

"What did he try and do?" Sirius asked.

"Tried to blur the image inside his head, as I recall. Was that your strategy Harry?"

"Yeah…I tried…"

"That's a good strategy Harry. But the better thing to do is to focus your mind on something that you know is not their goal to see. The best way to do this is to look at a memory and focus entirely on it. The more clear and in detail it is, the better because you will be able to make them focus on the image that you want them to notice not letting them search through to find what they want." Sirius said.

Harry tried to focus on a moment that he was going to make Dumbledore remember for him. He decided it would be on the first time that he rode a broomstick.

"Now the vision that I want you to block is of this afternoon's encounter with myself at The Hogs head. Can you do that for me?" Dumbledore asked.

"I'll do my best sir…" Harry said.

Harry focused deeply on the first time that he was riding a broom back in his first year. He could feel the worn handle of the _cleansweep seven_ in his hand, he could almost picture a Malfoy's face as he saw the image passing by. He focused even harder knowing the Dumbledore was trying to see something. He could feel the familiar swooshing and the adrenaline, but he could tell that Dumbledore was even getting closer.

Then suddenly he was back in the office, this time not rushing trying to catch his breath at all.

"Very well done Harry…" Dumbeldore said, "Though I was able to get at the memory, I had a sudden rush like I was falling and what's more is that I couldn't really hear my brother over the shouting of your classmates. I had forgotten what it was like to ride a broom. I haven't played quiddich in perhaps 30 years and I miss it now in my old age."

"You were a quiddich player sir?" Harry asked.

"Yes, I was a keeper back in the days of my youth. But you did improve and that is the main thing I want you to focus on. Same exercise now let us try again."

They continued for what felt like hours until finally Harry was almost too exhausted to move on. At that point it was Sirius who stood up and said that it was nearing time that he leave.

"I understand. Now Harry, I want you practicing these exercises on your own for tonight and tomorrow. I will see you on the 25th. Sirius, I think that I would like to you come for Christmas Brunch here at the castle. You'll have to come under the polyjuce potion but I think that you we all would prefer you here with us versus home at Gimauld Place without anyone."

"I would love to. Who do you want me coming as?"

"Professor Snape actually. He'll be out on leave with work for the Order."

"You have got to be kidding me." Harry exclaimed.


	4. Chapter 4

Harry awoke in the middle of the night dripping in sweat. He had seen the same corridor over and over and a bit of him was trying to figure out where it was that he had seen that exact hallway. There was something about it that made it feel as though Harry had seen it before.

As he woke up he realized that it was indeed Christmas and at the foot of the bed was a small pile of presents. He took a look at them and saw the familiar bunch of presents at the foot of his bed. The top of which was a small wrapped package from Sirius.

He quickly unwrapped it to find a note, written in small black handwriting, _this was your fathers old book of spells that were useful in dueling. He left it at my house one summer and I never got the chance to get it back. Hope you enjoy, Sirius._

Harry looked through the small book and saw that it contained all sorts of diagrams of spells as well as Quiddich plays and little drawings of the initials "LE" in hearts. He knew that he was going to enjoy reading this.

The next was a package from Lupin. It too was fairly small and Harry opened it rather hastily. It was a picture frame with what Harry could only assume was the original marauders. In the center was unmistakably a young Remus Lupin in his ever shabby robes and a very gaunt face. Perhaps a full moon preceded this picture, and to his left was Sirius, his black hair styled perfectly wearing his clothes with such disdain and a swagger that Harry knew Sirius still carried with him to this day. Behind him was Peter Pettigrew cowling in the glory of the last man. In the middle stood James Potter, his hair roughed up as though he had just gotten off a broom. In his hand was a snitch that he was letting get a little bit further and then snatching it right back.

_Harry, knew that you never did get a picture of all of us. Thought you would enjoy this. Merry Christmas. ~Remus~_

Ron's gift was a poster of various great seekers throught the ages. He found it quite humorus that he had tried to put harry's picture inside the poster but had failed quite miserably. Now the picture figures just were ganging up trying to move the little picture of him on a broom off of the poster.

Hermione's gift was a large organizer that only required that Harry say what he had to do and it rationed off the time for him and told him exactly what he needed to do. While he knew that the gift would be useful he was rather disappointed that there was nothing pertaining to enjoyment, but then again to those like Hermione the process of studying was enjoyable.

There was the usual lack of a present from the Dursleys, was hardly noticeable behind the large gifts from the Weasleys. Then there was a strange piece of parchement in handwriting that he hadn't seen before.

_The answer that you should have known for a long time: yes. Meet me after lunch at the DA room. _

Harry didn't know what to make of it, but there was a part of him that wanted it to have been from Cho. But there was no way to tell. And to Harry there was no way of telling what exactly that there was so he dressed his best and then took off for the great hall.

He entered the hall and he saw the table at the far end. He walked over and sat down next to professor Sprout. Across from him was Cho. She was dressed in a festive oriental red dress. She also had a beautiful ornamental hairpiece that made her look even more beautiful.

"Wow…merry Christmas never seemed so real. Did you get my present?"

"Yes I did." She said pulling down the high collar of her dress and pulling away a small pendant. It was a small gold ring with a latin phrase around the side that was in a small thin handwriting that Harry could hardly remember.

"It's beautiful Harry, but what does the phrase mean?"

"As I recall it's an enchantment for a love charm, or so I'm told? You'd have to ask professor Flitwick if it is actually legit or not." He said with a wink.

"This is the most serious misallocation of Hogwarts personnel I have seen so far from you Potter. Asking a professor of magic to access a trinket that you bought in a junk store." Harry heard Snape say.

"Hello…professor."

"Not even a Merry Christmas? I shouldn't expect as much from a Gryffindor."  
"Now now, Severus, is it necessary to be so harsh on the boy? Let me see if you wouldn't mind Miss Chang?" Professor Flitwick said holding out his hand. Cho handed it over and he hummed, "Hmmmm I have seen this before, _amor est vitae essentia_. Basicially the cham works only on those that are already in that present state of mind…so no gurentees, young Mr. Potter."

"Can't say that I expected them…"

The meal was as highly ironic as possible as few if any of the professors knew that Professor Snape was in fact actually Sirius. For all of his hatred towards Snape, Sirius played the part rather well. At the end of the night he even shook Harry's hand before leaving.

Cho on the other hand grabbed Harry as he left the great hall saying, "So I got your Christmas Present, did you get mine?"

"I assume you mean the note that was left with me?"

"I think that you may be right…"

She led him up to the 7th floor cooridor where the Room of Requirement was and then suddenly she told him to wait before miraculously the door appeared, but this time it was made of solid gold.

"I think you'll be a fine escort tonight Mr. Potter." She said placing her elbow into his, making him feel suddenly warm all over.

They walked through the doors into what was unmistakably a paradise. If Harry didn't know better he would have thought that Cho had just Apparated them halfway across the globe into the south Caribbean.

The sand was cool in his feet as he took off his shoes. He walked out by a set up light holding her hand. He could literally feel the salty breeze from the ocean and he could swear that it was warm enough to wear a swimsuit. He almost started sweating in the middle of the dance floor, before a cool breeze softened the heat.

"Wow…very nice…" Harry said looking out into the sunset that lit up the ocean in a fire-red and yellow surrounding a large amount of a deep purple and the waves broke in a deep sapphire.

In the background Harry saw Cho walk behind a wall, "Where are you going." But then suddenly she appeared again wearing a short dress with no shoes, quite the change from the formal wear that she had on during the Christmas brunch.

"I always wanted to see the carrabian when I was a young girl. I thought that you might like to see it as well."

"It's so beautiful…" He said in awe and then in a sly tone, he turned to Cho, "would you care to dance, Miss Chang?"

"I thought that you would never ask…" She said holding out her arm and Harry and Cho began to dance slowly on the beach…

It was the best night that Harry could remember in a long time…


	5. Chapter 5

Harry awoke to a soft thud to the back of his head and awoke to find a tall redheaded figure standing in front of him. Upon putting on his glasses he realized that the giant thump was from a pillow and that the tall red-headed child was Ron looking rather upset.

"You couldn't tell us that you were getting a girlfriend while you were gone? Or is it that you couldn't keep the dragon caged?"

Harry, who was still very sleepy and now slightly annoyed was trying to figure out what it was that was going on, "What are you talking about?"

"Wow…never thought it would be that bad." He said with an overtly sly grin on his face, "but seriously dude, you mind telling me why in the world it is that Cho Chang's sweater is sitting downstairs above the fireplace?"

"We…Merlin's beard what is it doing down there?"

"More importantly, where can we find her running around with no shirt on?" Ron said looking as though Christmas had come again then suddenly grasping his head in pain, "Hermione!"

Hermione Granger looked livid, "Ronald Weasley! Apologize!" She said holding her wand threateningly.

"OK OK I apologize…geez…I was only joking." He said sulking into the corner.

"It seems you were quite the gentleman then." She said, Harry honestly couldn't remember anything that had happened the night before, only that there was a sweater hanging above the fireplace and he didn't know it got there.

He ate in silence, trying to remember what had happened before. The paper was feeding the same delusional lies as usual.

"So, I guess today I'm a psychopath? What do you figure the angle will be for tomorrow? A serial killer? Or stick to the delusional lying attention seeking youth?"

"Aww, but your so cute when you're a lying delusional youth." Came Cho's voice from behind.

Harry swung his head around to see her. She however was still looking at the paper that was now in Hermione's hands.

"Why do you read that trash, Hermione? I thought you were the smartest of the Gryffindors?"

"A wise man once said keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. I follow that to a tee when it comes to the media." She said getting back into the

"Interesting…you mind if I borrow Harry for a moment?" She said grabbing Harry's arm. He resented highly being treated as an item.

"Sure, as long as you bring him back in mildly the same condition as he is now." Ron said with a laugh. Hermione slapped him upside the head.

Cho lead him away from the great hall out towards the main entrance where they stood overlooking the lake and at the far end, Hogsmade where the train was just arriving. The weather was mild and the sun was even shining, taking away from the bitter England Winter. Harry looked out over the majesty of it all in a little bit of wonder. Soon that train would be bringing back their classmates, soon the common room would be full again, soon life at Hogwarts would be back to normal and for the most part, Harry had rather enjoyed the little vacation that had taken place.

"Amazing isn't it?" Harry said looking out, "How in only a few short moments, everything will be going back to normal. I really enjoyed this Christmas with you."

"I have to say that this might be the most memorable one so far. I've been on vacation for almost a week and I haven't seen my older brothers get into a giant drunken argument and have my dad settle it out."

"ouch, that's gotta be hard."

"To be fair, my mother really restricts the firewhisky as of late. It seems to just delay the argument. It's nothing that bad. At least they always make up in the end."

"That's good. Your welcome to come live with the Dursleys sometime. Of course you can join me under the staircase anytime." He said with a witty smile.

"You're joking?" She said with a strange smile.

"No…I wish I was. For the better part of my life there I spent it underneath the staircase where there was a little bit of light, plenty of spiders and no shortage on hatred from my aunt and uncle. But that kind of ended when I came here. To be honest though, it always has felt a lot more like home for me here than at any other place on this planet."

"That's too bad. I have to admit though I never would have thought that the shy kid on the broom I played against years ago had to grow up in a closet."

"Stairwell." Harry corrected.

"All the same…I would never have known any of this otherwise. I mean here I was thinking, heck a cute guy like him, I don't mind cutting him off every three feet he flies…"

"And Wood kept telling me to not be such a gentleman and knock you off your broom. And look how that went? I had to rely on Malfoy dressing up as a dementor to beat you."

"That wasn't actually part of the game plan was it now?" She said giving him a strange smile.

"Yeah…you know how me and Malfoy are best mates. I was sending a curse of love at him." Harry said sarcastically, "actually it was a patronus charm, but that doesn't really matter."

"You're right."

"You know, I have to say that this was the best Christmas vacation I have had here." Harry said finally saying what he was feeling.

Cho looked at him looking stunning as she smiled again at him. Harry had gotten slightly more used to it in the last weeks, but it still made his heart race like crazy. She seemed to notice because she started laughing almost carelessly.

"I think that this might be the start of something interesting. A part of me wants to end this here and now. Let go of something so pure, so right that it can't be described as a part of life. But I know that if I did that, I would always be curious as to what may have happened or what might have been able to happen. And for that, no matter the outcome, I think that we should start going steady." She said giving him a kiss on the cheek, "You're freezing. Come on let's get inside where at least it will be warm." She said.

Harry was on an emotional roller coaster. But that was nothing compared to what would come next. Even more surprises awaited him inside.


End file.
